I found this old principal's message from 2006. The topic of trust has been on my mind lately. I've learned that you can forgive people by God's grace, but you do not necessarily have to trust the person you have forgiven. The offending person has to earn that trust.
Principal's Message from 2006
Two years ago I was involved in a research study on
trust conducted by two professors from the University of Saskatchewan. The research method was novel. Several principals got together for a period
of three hours to tell stories of how trust was built and broken. The stories are recorded, examined, and
distilled for the purpose of finding the truth about what really builds trust
and breaks trust. Indeed trust is
critical in creating an effective school.
Parents need to trust teachers.
Teachers need to trust one another.
Principals need to trust teachers.
Students need to trust teachers, and so on.
Trust is like a banking system where
daily deposits and withdrawals are constantly being made. When you have built a wealth of trust you are
able to make a withdrawal by asking people to place their trust in you. When you are in debt, serious deposits must be
made before people will trust you again.
How does a person build a wealth of
trust? I think I have found a sound financial plan in the “be attitudes”. You must be humble. Acknowledge your defects and be modest about
your accomplishments. Listen to others
and accept the fact you can always learn more.
You must mourn. When you have
done wrong, you should admit your fault and make amends. You should be meek. Treat people with patience and practice
self-control. You should be kind. Love is something when you give it away
because you end up getting more. Share. Compliment. Congratulate.
Celebrate. Give. You should be
merciful. When you show mercy, people
will be merciful toward you. You should
be pure. When you are tainted, people
will have a hard time seeing beyond your improprieties. You should seek peace. It is not enough to keep your own fence
well-mended, you should help to mend fences with the people around you. You should do the right thing, not the
popular thing. There are times when
doing right will not win you a popularity contest.
We all know what a fleeting thing
wealth is. One event can bankrupt a
fortune. Let us all continue to build
trust daily and when trust is broken, let us do what we can to broker
trust. At the end of the day, we will
all benefit from the wealth we build together.
Trusting you
will understand,
A. J. Kolach
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